Playmats provide a useful and safe way to enjoy various activities. Caregivers to children in particular like soft foam playmats because they are comfortable and provide ample cushioning. Factors that influence someone to purchase a particular set of mats may include the costs; the packaging; the appearance of the mats; the quality of the mats and the assembly of these mats. Today most soft foam playmates on the market are quite similar in terms of these factors. Additional characteristic of the mats would provide a more attractive incentive for consumer to purchase.
Most mats are sold in a package of four or six individual solid pieces. Once out of the packaging, the individual pieces are connected to one another to secure a large covering area. The solid pieces maybe of one single color or reversible colors on each side. However, most of these mats function as nothing more than just mats. There is no interactive play with the mats. While some mats have various graphic illustrations on their surfaces and some even have cutouts such as letters and numbers within the mat pieces, none of these mats provide for constructive play.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,842 to Glydon teaches a padded matting product that can be (1) configured to form a foam floor mat to reduce injuries to children when they fall, (2) taken apart to form stacked tiles to allow for easy storage, and (3) be reconstructed to form padded blocks for children to play with. However, Glydon's structures are largely limited to blocks due to its limited geometry and coupling mechanisms, and fail to stimulate a variety of different games and playtime activities for children. Glydon and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
WO2008/127980 to Kuzmin teaches a different padded matting product that could be (1) configured to form a foam floor mat, and (2) configured to form three-dimensional structures. Kuzmin, however, also fails to teach methods of providing more complex building blocks other than simple three-dimensional structures.
Thus, there is still a need for multipurpose padded products.